The FIA has imposed a ban on off-throttle diffusers that will come into effect this weekend at Silverstone. While most teams sport a variation of it, Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey designed machine has made the most of it so far, and the ace engineer admits that the champs will be “heavily affected”.
“I think we will be quite heavily affected because our car was designed around the exhaust in as much as it was part of the design right from the outset. Probably with the exception of Renault and ourselves, everybody else has generally speaking copied someone else’s principal, mainly ours, and adapted to the car that they had pre-season. Because our car has been designed around it, it’s going to be more of a hit for us but it’s very difficult to forecast,” Newey told Reuters.
The RBR chief technical officer is clearly unhappy with the ban, hinting that it’s a move in favour of Ferrari.
“I’m slightly baffled by it because it’s been declared legal forever until this race. The obvious parallel is when active suspension was banned at the end of ’93, where there was no regulation change. Ferrari couldn’t get their active to work and suddenly it was illegal for the next year,” he pointed out.
“It’s easy to fall into the Machiavellian conspiracy theories. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know and I can’t comment. My read of it would be that, of our main competitors, which are clearly McLaren and Ferrari, then Ferrari probably haven’t got their exhaust to work that well so they are quite happy to see the back of it.
“McLaren probably don’t know whether they are going to lose more or less than us. But probably on the basis that they could probably do with a wild card thrown into the pack, they are probably relieved to have something that is different,” Newey added.
Is FIA trying to level the teams and give a leg up to the chasing pack? Will it work? We’ll find out this weekend.
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this absolutely similar case to senna when he was in williams
just to end RBR domination.
actually the technical rules regarding blown diffuser clearly stated only 10% gas exhaust is allow to blow the diffuser when the driver is in off throttle. But all the teams that use blown diffuser are somehow find some loophole in that rules and use aggressive engine mapping to make sure gas exhaust can be blown at maximum level and sometime above 10%.
And yeah; Red Bull is the pioneer of this aggressive engine mapping and even build the car around exhaust to make sure they can extract the maximum amount of downforce when driver is on off throttle.
The other team that might be hit severely by this clampdown is Lotus Renault GP.
Which, in my opinion, is a good thing because F1 can get extremely boring if only one team keep dominating.
well… senna was just gonna signed by williams when the ban was imposed… kinda different situation here… but i agree with your 2nd statement
this picture of Newey looking at the blonde chick really makes me wonder how she actually looks like… any pic from a front angle? Hey, this is automotive as well… need to see the front wing flap angle as well her diffuser… :o)
hamsap fella ;)
hahaha, so, got a pic from front angle? A lot of downwash or upwash? =))
to end all other team domination, if its Ferrari, then its okay..it always had been the case with F1…haih..
though i personally think off throttle diffuser or any exhaust blown diffuser as active aerodynamics, newey might had a point there… fia did NOTHING when msc was flying away lapping everyone in a ferrari once… no offence really… i'm a fan of msc
dear danny,
in my opinion the terms 'Diffuser ban' and 'off-throttle diffusers' are not quite right. It's not the diffuser that had been banned, it's the 'blown' (hot blown) that had been banned.
things noted here: politic turns everything upside down. LOL
Why FIA ban things that make F1 car go faster? Those cars are running in circle a little excitement is good for the gig.
Any changes should be done at the start of a new model year, not in the middle of the race, else there are stories about FIA favouring 'certain teams'. With this sudden ban, i can't help but somehow agree with Newey. I am not a fan of RBR, but in the game of fairness, regulation changes must implemented before the race year calender started.
When Ferrari was dominant with Schumi, there were no rule changes in the middle of the year, as far as i can remember. So why now, when RBR is on a winning streak?
Datuk Seri Jean Todt is now the FIA president. Put his past career together, it makes sense why FIA = Ferrari International Assistance
Pathetic rule change!! Hopefully, the genius has got more tricks up his sleeve. Go Adrian Newey!! Go Vettel!!
hhaha… this FIA is like some party in m'sia… if cannot beat them… ban 9 them! hehe… nope?
better watch WRC…..
F1 too much politics….
oh dear, do you think rally world got no politics involved? if so, then why only Citroens and Fords competing in WRC for the last few years?
FIA top officials can be tempted by nuances of Ferrari cars, wheels, accessories, services, equipments to their perks. Think about it, what could Red Bull bribe these officials? A carton of red bull?
it's just as easy to to make the argument that the FIA conspired in favor of Red Bull in the recent past, letting them get by with a lot on the aero side of things (front wing looked illegally low to most but mysteriously measured to spec). There is no doubt whatsoever that the FIA feels a pinch to level the field, but to single Ferrari out as the sole conspirator is patently ridiculous. Last I checked, Todt was French and Ecclestone was a Brit. F1 and the FIA are always trying to force some technological jockeying – be it in Ferrari's favor or McLaren's or Renault. Singling out Ferrari is silly in this case.